Francesca Martinez is a self-assured and drop-dead gorgeous performer.

She is also as sharp as a tack and more than a little mischievous. But these qualities alone do not make a stand-up comic.

This show is based on a 20-minute routine that has wowed punters and critics at comedy festivals.

This short version would have been something special but, spun out over an hour, it simply runs out of steam halfway through.

Some of the gags are poor and Martinez loses her audience.

She starts well, making good use of a topic she is a real expert on - living with a disability.

She walks on with the help of Marcus Birdman, her warm-up act, then leans on a kitchen chair centre-stage.

Her cerebral palsy also makes her slur her words a bit and her clever opener - "the official term for my condition is 'sober' " - hits the right note.

Then she recalls an encounter with a careers adviser. Her announcement "I want to be a hairdresser" is met with the quip "Have you not seen Reservoir Dogs?".

She certainly had her moments but there were also times she strayed away from comedy and into lecturing mode.

It takes a lot of chutzpah for anyone to do stand-up. Martinez has no problem in that department.

But it also takes a lot of funny material and this is where she has her work cut out.

Review by Andy Fisher, features@theargus.co.uk